Breakwater-wall construction



Aug. 19, 1924.

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J. P. BALL BREAKWATER WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 13, 1922 Ure 4 fm1/anim,

Patented ug. 19, 1924.

rares isoazss JOHN e. BALL, ory cercati-0;, ILLINOIS.

BREAKWATER-WALL CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed.v December 13,v y1922. rSerial No. 606,663.

To all whom it may concern.) a Be it known that I, Jol-LN l?. BALL, a citizen of United States, residing in ther city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, United States of' America, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Breakwater-Tall Construction, of' which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for constructing breakwater walls under water by lowered into position on a base prepared for the wall. My invention also vincludes means for bracing and wedgmg these blocks into a secure position so as to resist the wave action of the water and also includes means for filling the cavities in the wallwith a heavy material such as `broken stone or coarse gravel.

In the accompanying drawings which show certain adaptations of my invention,

Figure l is a vertical cross section taken substantially on the line 2 2 of Figure 2 showing the preferred form of my invention. Figure 2 is a plan of a portion of the same form thereof. Figure 3 is a detail sectional view showing the beveled upper edges. Figure 4 is an elevation of the closed end of one of the header blocks.

Referring to the drawings A and B indicate the reinforced concrete flat slab foundation caps. C` the combination keystone and foundation slab of reinforced concrete. D and E the lower reinforced concrete hollow wedges, F and Gr the upper reinforced concrete hollow wedges, H represents pile timbers sawed off to a grade preferably at the ground surface, J represents the water surface and K the bottom line of the lake or natural ground line.

Referring to the drawings I will now describe in detail the preferred form of my p with steel bars.

invention in the adaptation therein illustrated.

The pile timbersr ITL'H, arey driven to a firm foundation andl the spacing'offsidelpiles is such as to form a rmffoundation yfor the wall support. Thespacing isnot limited, however, to afixed distance and' is dependent on the ykind of eartlr or rock encountered. Theline of piles furthest from the shore liney may be vdriven closek up. or

v.with engaging surfaces so as to prevent a wash of material below the. bottomofthe wall.y L f f yThe cap slabs A and.` B are preferablyrectangular concreter blocks reinforcedy with steelt bars and. rest flat 'on the piling'sawed to grade, said fiat slabs aredesignedtosupport theouter endsof the-lowerI concrete units D and E. The member Gfis preferablyk a Tr shaped keystone. It also rests on the prepared piling` Hi H "I-I` and is' centeredA to; the crossv section off the wall. It` isdesignedvto support'the inner ends ofthe lower concrete members D and E. This T shaped member also serves as a footing for the wedge shaped concrete members D, E, F and G.

The concrete members D and E are preferably hollow concrete blocks reinforced They are shown shaped as sectors'of a cylinder with stubbed apices, and with the Hat side resting on the foundation slabs A Band on the key members C.

'Ihe membersF and G are also hollow concrete blocksreinforced with steelrods. They are also shown shaped as sectors o f a cylinder with stubbed ends or apices, yand are nested between the lower members D and E and the key member C. The four vwedge-shaped members D, E, F and G nesting togetherl form a semi-circle in cross sectional View.

In order to form a further bond in the construction of the wall, I have provided a series 0f openings, L L in the top and sides of the wedge-shaped hollow blocks, said openings being shown spaced yat convenient intervals. These openings are designed to be used for material such as broken stone filling, whereby the complete cavity in each unit concrete hollow block can be closed and this broken stone lling may be subsequently cemented by grout mortar poured into the voids thereof. In this way the concrete units' may be bonded together, adding throughout.

strength and weight, so as to `m al{e a homogeneous breakwater-wall continuous Then desired, header blocks may be placed in the construction end of the 'wall so as to prevent'the overflow of grout and broken stone filling.

In order to form close joints and inthe upper surface of the wall, the engaging surfaces a, a, and Z), b, are preferably bevellededged, so that the upper edges of the forward concrete blocks may engage closelyy with the foregoing numbers.

er-paved b'each'in connection with theV hollow concrete blocks, keying into eachv other so as to form an arch upper` surface, openings in said hollow blocks through which the blocks may be filled with foreign matter subsequent to the positioning of said blocks in place.

2. A wall construction composed of a plurality of reinforced concrete hollow wedgeshaped blocks, each block having two flat radial sides and a segmentory cylindrical side, juxtaposed so as to form' a sector of a'cylinder, a reinforced concrete Teshaped key-block adapted to be interposed between the adjacent sides of the intermediate hollow blocks, and a reinforced concreteV with the apices of the blocks disposed down-y wardly, the tops of the intermediate blocks and the abutting sides of alll of the blocks being formed to permit the subsequent introduction of filling material from the top of the wall.

4. In of pre-cast, wedge-shaped hollow blocks adapted'to be arranged in superposed relation, a pre-cast key-block, having sloping sides correlated to the sloping sides of the hollow blocks, disposed intermediate of the adjacent sides of the intermediate blocks, said keyblock being provided with an extended base on opposite sides to support the lower hollow blocks.

JOHN P, BALL/ Witnesses v C. E. BALL, A. M. BALL.

a wall construction, a pluralityv 

